Would I be strait-laced if I protested this spelling on the Yahoo! front page?

The American Heritage Dictionary accepts straight-laced as a variant of the preferred spelling strait-laced. Strait means “tight, narrow, or constricted.” That’s the meaning here and in straitjacket, the spelling preferred over straightjacket.

I always thought that professional writers were college graduates, but after reading this on Yahoo! Style, I don’t think they have to be high school graduates. It seems that a fourth-grade education is more than adequate.

This is possibly the most outrageous of the writer’s claims. She apparently thinks matriculate is a synonym for graduate. It is not; it means “to admit or be admitted to a college or university”:

That was my first hint that this writer hadn’t attended an institution of higher learning. And there’s no doubt she doesn’t hold a Ph.D. What does she think P.h.D. stands for anyway?

Clearly, there were no classes in logic (or English) in her educational background. If there were, she would never have written this about a really, really good-looking college instructor name Boselli:

So, Boselli proves that “beauty is nothing without the brain.” In other words, the poor man is a brainless Adonis. But somehow he managed to earn a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering? At least he has a degree (or two or three).

Thinking of applying for a writing or editing job at Yahoo! Makers, but hesitate because you have limited ability when it comes to basic arithmetic? No problem! You don’t need to be a graduate of Advanced Placement Calculus to land a position with this prestigious site. Heck, you don’t even need to be able to count to three. Two, maybe. But three? Totally optional. Just look at this headline from the site’s home page:

Like this:

Apparently the use of airstrikes in combat has come as a complete surprise to the staff at the Yahoo! front page. They simply can’t decide if it’s one word or two, so they try it both ways. They also can’t decide if staff is a collective noun that should be treated as singular or if it’s a plural noun. What the heck! Let’s use it both ways:

and here’s an alternative spelling of airstrikes:

Legitimate news sources have a little thing called a style guide that settles such issues. And if the style guide doesn’t address the issue, a competent editor does. But this is Yahoo! … no standards need apply.